Philosophical Perspectives on Nature, Culture, and Mortality

Philosophical Concepts: Nature and Culture

Nature and Essence

• The nature and essence of being: Every entity possesses its own inherent nature.
• Nature as Dynamic: The set of all beings (including non-material beings, MNOs).
• Nature vs. Artificiality: Nature encompasses all living things and their relationship with the environment, distinct from the artificial.

Cultural Perspectives: Emic and Etic

The distinction between the emic and etic perspectives delimits the analysis of a culture either from within (emic) or from the outside (etic).

Emic Perspective

The emic perspective is the point of view adopted by the participants themselves. It is maintained within a culture, a product of the process of enculturation, and leads participants to appreciate their own practices and beliefs as correct and legitimate.

Etic Perspective

The etic perspective is taken by the external observer. It is used outside of the culture being studied, always maintained from another cultural viewpoint, although it aims to preserve objectivity.

Emic and etic perspectives do not necessarily coincide because the problem lies in determining which of the two perspectives as best explains the contents of a culture.

Metaphysics, Mind, and Mortality

The Mind-Body Problem

• Monism: Asserts that the mind and body are not separate realities, but different aspects of one reality.
• Dualism: Traced back to Plato and Descartes, this response states that the mind and brain are two different realities, each with its own rules.
• Physicalism: Maintains that mental activity depends on the brain and can be explained physically through material processes.

Desire and Passion

• Desire: A movement of our psychic activity that drives us to achieve an objective we consider a source of satisfaction.
• Passion: An inclination or tendency that cannot be easily dominated. Passion exists when we suffer a state of domination. Reason must master passion, as without passion, there is no true knowledge.

The Philosophy of Death

Fundamental Questions of Death

1. Death is always an end.
2. Death can never be predicted.
3. Death is a personal act.
4. Death is a source of fundamental questions.

Philosophical Views on Death

• Epicurus: Death always happens, but we cannot experience it.
• Spinoza: Death is inevitable; thinking about it is useless.
• Sartre: Death is not a property of the dying.

Philosophy as Meditation on Death

• Plato: Philosophy is the same as learning to die.
• Stoics: Live each day as if it were your last.
• Montaigne: Philosophy is a meditation on death.
• Heidegger: The human being is the only one aware that they will die.
• Unamuno: Thinking about death is a tragic thought.